A judge has ordered the identity of a British sperm donor, who fathered 15 children to lesbian women without revealing he has an inheritable genetic condition leading to low IQ and developmental delay, to be revealed.
James MacDougall offered and then carried out private sperm donations to numerous lesbian women despite knowing he is a carrier of Fragile X syndrome.
The Daily Mail reports his identity emerged after an almost unprecedented move by a judge in a Family Court battle, after he demanded access to some of the children. The judge named him to prevent other women from using him as a sperm donor.
The incurable genetic condition of which he is a carrier can lead to low IQ and developmental delay, and affect the children he fathered.
His adoptive parents, June and John MacDougall, have defended their son after he was banned from being involved in the lives of some of the children.
His mother said: “He wanted to be part of their lives…. He is kind-hearted and would do anything for anybody but he is gullible. He didn't seek any money… he just did it.”
The couple said he was a carrier of the condition Fragile X. “Rather than being a sufferer he is a carrier, which he could pass on to the next generation. He inherited it from his birth mother.”
They said he was “a victim” in the ruling against him in his bid to have access to four of the children he had fathered.
The court heard he had signed an agreement saying he did not want any contact with some of the children but had then applied for parental responsibility orders, and child arrangements orders, allowing him to spend time with four of them. Three mothers opposed his request.
His mother said he had never forgone parental responsibility for some of the children, currently aged between three and a few months old. She said he was adopted as an abused baby, suffered from autism and learning difficulties, and survived on disability handouts while holding down volunteer work.
The judge ruled that he should not have parental responsibility for the children, and forbade him from applying to the court for the next three years, because of his lack of insight into his conduct.
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